Earlier this year, Radiangames published all of its mobile games on Google Play. Well, all except one: Super Crossfire. iOS gamers were well aware of it from its Chillingo-published version in 2011. Even Blackberry Playbook owners knew about it because Unity Games published a version on there. Now in 2013, Android owners finally get to play this flip-floppy space shooter, and it has been well worth the wait because it is a brilliant game.

At its heart, Super Crossfire is essentially Galaxian but with the ability to flip to the other side of the playing field. This allows players to avoid shots that come in, of course, but it also becomes necessary to take on the complex enemy formations that are encountered. Some enemies can only be hit from one side. Some enemies with giant lasers are best faced from the back. Some enemies provide shielding to nearby enemies and must be taken out. Thankfully, players also have a powerful super attack that recharges by collecting gems, to help wipe out the trickier formations.

Honestly, the game is more fun than the average space shooter because of the simple complexity. Players learn how to survive in quick order, and it just becomes an instinctive thing. Basically, just avoid the bullets and lasers, kill the UFOs that go past to get their lucrative powerups, and just don’t screw up.

The upgrade system plays a helping hand as well. Players get additional points every 5 to 10 levels that go into one of eight stats from additional health to more firepower. The best part is that the upgrades can all be reconfigured as needed. Didn’t like that shot spread upgrade and want to bank the points toward an additional armor point? Do it! It’s kind of a Radiangames tradition, and it’s a great fit here.

The Android port is great: the game is faithfully intact, and its graphics, while largely flat, have the same great effects. It’s a stylish game. The touchscreen controls are effective enough, but want to really have some fun? Get a gamepad. Super Crossfire supports HID gamepads and is a ton of fun with it. I feel better at it, but it also might have just been a good run I got on where I beat the game in one sitting with a gamepad. Still, this is one where it’s fun to sit back and enjoy the game with actual controls where possible.

As well, there’s Google+ support for leaderboards, achievements, and cloud saves, featuring a friendly warning dialogue when switching devices to load from the cloud.

The intense retro-style shoot ’em up action that encapsulates Super Crossfire makes it one of my favorite mobile games of all time. Two years later, with this perfect Android version, it only reiterates how great this game is, with its hundreds of levels, upgrades to unlock, multiple difficulty levels, and more. There’s a lot to do and a lot of fun to be had. Buy this game.

Super Crossfire by Radiangames has been around for a bit: it’s made appearances on Xbox Live’s Indie Games, PC & Mac, and even was on iOS a couple years ago. While Radiangames has published most of its library for Android, this has been the one notable exception. But no longer! Unity Games has published Super Crossfire for Android, and it’s featured as our video of the day.

This is an intense shoot ’em up in the vein of old school Galaxian or Space Invaders, but flipped: literally, players can flip from one side of the screen to the other in order to get away from enemy shots, and to take advantage of weak spots. Much like Inferno+ or Ballistic SE, there’s a mid-game upgrade system where every few levels, additional upgrade points are given to boost stats. There’s also victory points earned that can be used on permanent upgrades.

The game is colorful and challenging, and is well worth watching the footage below to get a taste of the game. If interested, buy the game on Google Play.